I have a darn squirrel who keeps digging up all my hostas and hiding stupid peanuts!!It's because it's easy digging. and I have a cat nicknamed ASSASSIN! One year a squirrel flipped my Heatwave right over! Nothing has helped yet. But our cat did bring a dead squirrel tail home last winter we'll have to see if it's the monster who keeps getting in my gardens. The neighbors also feed the darn things and they are moving out soon. My dad said try mothballs. I haven't bought any yet so not sure if it helps.

You know, I've heard mothballs before and totally forgot about them. Thank you for reminding me! I'll let you know if it works.

Westy

Alycia - apparently moth balls have some value. A few years ago I had a pair of the tree rats nest in my boxed eaves. I could see the hole at the end of the eave and watch the baby squirrels go in and out. I contacted the Baxter County (Arkansas) Animal Control for help. They dont like calls for squirrels.

Any way I was warned to not place moth balls in the hole being used as the entrance/exit. The squirrels will refuse to cross the moth balls and either try to chew their way out in another place, doing a lot of damage - OR - starve to death rather than cross the moth balls. In that case, I was told, I would do a lot of damage to my house tearing it apart to get rid of the stinking dead squirrels.

For what it is worth. If you can find a way to use them. I do know they work on chipmunks. Been there and done that.

We had a similar thread regarding chipmunks about a year ago. We went the gammut of look-alikes too. The result of our collective research, if I recall, was that chipmunks do not eat roots. But ground-squirrels, a type of banded gopher, does. Don't know why chipmunks would dig in potted plants. They are nut gatherers, not buryers like squirrels, who store nuts in their dens in, usually, cavities like in rock piles or inside fallen trees.

If someone reads this who knows how to find the thread maybe they could give you a link.

Les

I have less chipmunks, did not see one for 2 weeks. Whenever they dug those large holes this spring I gave them dcon pellets, pushed those in deep, covered the hole, needed to repeat it once, and no more holes and peace.

Les...any luck finding the Chipmunk thread you refered too. Seems like a few of us need to be rid of Chip and Dale.

I also have trouble with chipmunks digging in pots. This year, I've been spraying my deer spray (Bobbex) on the planters. Too soon for me to say it is 100% but so far they haven't dug unless I've waited 3 weeks or more to re-spray.
Cj

I have problems with chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons and rabbits. I find holes beside my plants all the time whether in pots or in the ground and quite often I find newly planted hostas uprooted. I've tried cayenne pepper without success, and have heard of using mothballs, freshly ground pepper, and dog hair as a deterrent. The only thing that has helped me is a product called Critter Ridder (expensive) which I sprinkle around new plants. Once the plants have become established I'm not as concerned about the holes. Sometimes if I plant three of a kind only one plant appears to be investigated.

Aaarrgghh! I hate chipmunks! I have used moth balls before and they seemed to work. I put them down the holes. That was several years ago. They are back with a vengeance now. The front walk near the house is collapsing as they have dug their tunnels from one bed to another under the flagstones. If I didn't have dogs I would use poison the little rats, but then, I would worry about birds eating those pests and dying as a result.

Normally, I am very easy-going and not at all violent. Really. :)

Hmmm...never heard of 'Critter Ridder' but I'll check it out at the local nurseries and online. I think I'll try the mothballs first. I hate to use DeCon - it kills them, right? Why do I care? I'm an idiot. I'm worried today about all the little animals that are burning in Colorado where there's a big fire West of Fort Collins - my kids live near there - and yes I worry about them, but I keep thinking about the stupid critters. And no, I can't stand the laws of the jungle. Thanks, everyone!

Westy

mbug - see "Why Did I Dispose of the Bodies"

mbug - see "Why Did I Dispose of the Bodies"

Mothballs are a pesticide. They are pretty poisonous stuff, so you want to be very careful with leaving them where pets and little children can get it. Mothballs can also contaminate soil, water and edible plants. The use of any pesticide "off label" like mothballs in your garden is against Federal law.

Chipmunks can be annoying with their digging, but Hosta are not a typical part of their diet. Here's a description of their diet from Purdue University.

"The diet of chipmunks consists of various kinds of nuts, berries and seeds, but they also eat mushrooms, insects and carrion. Chipmunks cache food in their burrows throughout the year."

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Purdue Dept of Entomology

Guess I won't be buying mothballs. No pets or kids around but if it's bad for soil, no way. I'm sure he's digging for pillbugs and others - I'm hoping he doesn't have a long lifespan! Irawon - what is 'Critter Ridder' made of? Anything poisonous?

Westy

I had a horrible problem with chipmunks. They would dig tunnels under things, and sometimes pop up some of my smaller hostas. They would be running around chittering at me all the time when I was working in the garden. I've had squirrels, voles, rabbits, etc and he chipmunks were the worst. There are two things that worked for me:
1. A family of hawks moved in to my yard (maybe you can relocate some LOL)
2. Rat Traps. I tried everything and until the hawks moved in, the only thing that worked was rat traps. I use the big black plastic traps, think they are Tomcat brand. I found them at a farm supply store. They really like almond butter or peanut butter with sunflower seeds. Unfortunately I also caught shrews and an occasional squirrel in my traps.
Jen

I have a yard full of trees which are full of squirrel nests. I have a porch full of holes in the sides which the chipmunks use to go in and out of their hiding places under the porch.
I have a dog who has come to terms (peaceful) with the squirrels but goes crazy if she sees a chipmunk!

They dig, as someone else pointed out, because the dirt in a pot or around a new planting is soft and they seem to spend their lives digging to plant a tasty morsel and then digging to retrieve it and eat!

I have never, NEVER seen either eat a hosta. I have never seen either one dig up a hosta to eat the roots (or had any evidence that they have). I have, however seen a couple of young squirrels playing with newly-planted mini hostas that they dug out of a pot. It was a sort of squirrel football with a lot of tackling and throwing.

Westy, Critter Ridder's main ingredient is cayenne pepper. I got some from Gardener's Supply (catalogue and website) to try and keep the little buggers out of my hanging baskets, didn't work.

I think your best bet is to get another cat!

chris

Good cats work here great.

DH doesn't want any more pets. Putting this place up for sale soon and doesn't want litter or cat hair around. Yes, he's a perfectionist.I want one so bad but maybe when we move. All of a sudden we've got a slew of crows cawing all day long. I'm hoping they'll take care of her/him or at least scare Chip away. I saw a shrew here a couple of years ago, but none since - was so taken aback because I'd never seen one and it was the most interesting animal - I think they're blind! I was only a couple feet away and she just kept doing her thing. What a snout!!!! And the thing looked like it had a grey velvet coat. There should be more shrews in the world.

Westy
PS - thanks everyone.

Westy, I was at a garden center today and checked the ingredients in Critter Ridder. Peppers including cayenne are the main ingredients . Why don't you try a mixture of black, cayenne and hot peppers. I tried cayenne pepper alone before and didn't think it worked. I'm going to try a mixture of freshly ground black, red, green, cayenne and hot chili peppers to see if that will work.

Irawon, thanks for doing that. Did you buy some? I'm going to get it since I don't wanna waste my spices. Went through a whole little jar of cayenne the other day and then watered and couldn't keep the water off the edge of the pots! I caught him this morning - made a loud noise and he ran like heck but he's pretty brave - I'm sure he'll be at it again tomorrow morning.

Westy

I tried various repellents with no success so finally bought a Have-A-Heart Trap. I've "relocated" two in two days but I'm not sure I've taken them far enough away. Can they find their way back to their original burrow if I don't take them far enough away?

The little chipmunks really multiplied this year up in our rock walls in Massachusetts. And they will excavate soil from behind rock walls, because we had to scoop up several full buckets of it from the driveway. I think they had to expand their dwelling to make room for the population explosion, due to no "chipmunk" or "squirrel dog" being resident there this year. And the warmer winter months has increased the population almost exponentially!

The thread HostaLes referred to was created by McTavish and it is illustrated with all sorts of good line drawings to scale. I knew I should have linked it!

They will bury seeds in pots. Seen them do it.

Dunno about the hosta roots-they don't seem to bother my hostas but definitely eat the buds off of my Asiatic lillies...have sat and watchem them...tried every remedy mentioned and to date the thing that seems to work is rat traps...so that's what we've been using...caught 6 of them so far in 2 days. I've read that they reproduce somewhat like rabbits so we've likely got another couple dozen to get rid of before we put the traps away.

I tried putting mothballs in my attic one year to discourage the squirrels but went out one morning to find mothballs all over the back yard and watched as a couple more came flinging out. The stinkers threw them all out!

I also had an ongoing battle with a critter that insisted on digging up a potted petunia. When I dug into the pot to replant it I found a huge toad.It was not easily discouraged, either. It dug up my plant every day for a couple of weeks before it finally moved on.

Of course I didn't want to hurt it as they are good to have in the garden but it sure was stubborn!

Sandy

When you use traps for chipmunks, then you have to find a way to dispose of them. When I use dcon pellets, the chipmunks stay in their burroughs and become nutrients for the plant world, seems to me to be the 'green' way to do it. Bernd

If you don't have a problem with one more pet, buy a Dachshound (spelling at risk: you know what I mean! One and none.)

Les

Les, Dachshund = badger dog translated from German, was used to go into burrows of badgers, but chipmunk holes are too small to fit a dachshund in.
Bernd

I don't know how effective a dachshund would be against Chipmunks but the one we had when I was a kid would stick her nose into a mole tunnel and proceed to plow up the whole yard with it as she followed the tunnels around. drove my dad crazy. She existed in a state of constant warfare with squirrels and would dig her way down into a burrow and drag a live possum out by the scruff of its neck even if it took her three hours of tunneling to get to it.
I suspect that a cat would be more effective against the munks.

We have tons of chipmunks and they have never damaged any hosta as far as I can tell. I don't grow any bulbs, so have no issues with them or sqirrels in that quarter, either. Our newest dog chases them a little...the other two always ignored them.

The worst the chipmunks ever did in my yard is this, which is really pretty amazing. This mound of rocks was expelled from the chipunk hole in ONE day. I cleaned them up, and another mound soon appeared. I have some mighty strong chipmunks, apparently